The Pacific

By Stuart Munckton, Green Left Weekly
October 16, 2011 -- The Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu, in the Pacific Ocean, is facing a severe shortage of fresh water.
Australia Network News said on October 10 that a state of emergency had been declared and Tuvalu's disaster co-ordinator Sumeo Silu said there was only about three days of water left. Tuvalu is in the midst of a crippling drought and had no rain for months.
ANN said Australia and New Zealand would deploy a large desalination plant to the island, home to about 10,000 people.

[Children standing in mine tailings, PNG.]
By Ash Pemberton, Green Left Weekly
August 28, 2011 -- The new government of Papua New Guinea, led by prime minister Peter O'Neill, has announced plans to revert ownership of minerals and resources to traditional landowners.
Mining minister Byron Chan said in a speech on August 11 the government would seek to give traditional owners legal ownership of resources under the land and sea.
Currently, the PNG government owns anything more than six feet under the surface.

[The federal Labor government closed down its Nauru detention centre in 2008.]
By Jay Fletcher, Green Left Weekly
June 18, 2011 -- The president of the Pacific island nation of Nauru told Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott that it would move to sign the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees though it has not taken formal steps to do so.
Abbott said on June 13 this meant Prime Minister Julia Gillard had “run out of excuses” not to reopen the centre and send refugees to the small, poor nation about 4000 kilometres from Australia.

[The Ramu processing plant, on the edge of Basamuk Bay in Papua New Guinea.]
March 17, 2011, Intercontinental Cry -- In early March, a "serious chemical spill" was reported at the site of the Ramu mine processing plant, which sits on the edge of Basamuk Bay in Papua New Guinea.
According to initial reports, the incident occurred on March 3, "while a cargo ship was unloading a chemical substance into storage tanks on the shore at the refinery site," says Papua New Guinea Mine Watch, who noted the incident on their website on March 8.

Mar 24, 2011, EngageMedia -- Papua New Guinea group, ActNow, is calling the public to send a message to the World Bank, through its subsidiary the International Finance Corporation, on their role in the Special Economic Zones legislation.

[Pictured: Hidden Valley mine.]
By Ash Pemberton,
Green Left Weekly
October 31, 2010 -- Owners of the Hidden Valley gold mine in Morobe province, Papua New Guinea, have tried to silence critics of the environmental damage created during the mine’s construction, Little Green Palai said on October 25.
Members of campaign group Union of Watut River Communities (UoWRC) have been issued restraining orders by owners Morobe Mining Joint Venture (MMJV). The owners demanded they stop spreading information about the mine's impact on the community and environment, the article said.

[The Ramu nickel mine is set to dump 100 million tonnes of mine tailings into the pristine Basamuk Bay (pictured).]
By Ash Pemberton, Green Left Weekly
October 24, 2010 -- More than 100 landowners from the Madang Province of Papua New Guinea have said they want to join a court battle to stop millions of tonnes of mine waste being dumped into the sea, the Ramu Nickel Mine Watch website said on October 17.
The challenge was launched by 37 landowners, with others indicating their intent to join the case.

[RAMSI troops on patrol in Honiara. RAMSI continues to be criticised for targeting political opponents of Australian interests. Photo: pacific.scoop.co.nz.]
By Ash Pemberton, Green Left Weekly
October 17, 2010 -- The Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), involving involves police and soldiers, is set to continue its occupation of the Pacific island for at least “five to six years”, despite a change of government in the Solomon Islands.

[Papua New Guinean children standing in mine tailings. The Ramu mine is expected to produce 100 million tonnes of waste tailings that will be pumped into the pristine Basamuk Bay. Photo: Intercontinenal Cry.]
By Ash Pemberton, Green Left Weekly
October 3, 2010 -- The fight against the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of Madang in Papua New Guinea suffered a setback when a court injunction against the Ramu nickel mine, which is building a pipe to dump its waste into the ocean, was reversed.

From aidwatch.org.au. This AID/WATCH publication presents Melanesian and Australian voices in defence of Melanesian customary land. The chapters touch on the broad themes of customary land in the region, as well as particular issues in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. Those issues include land tenure conversion, incorporated land groups, leases, the productive value of customary land, women and land, land tenure reform programs, and the social security features of traditional land tenure systems.
Click here to listen to Radio Australia interview with co-editor Tim Anderson
Click here to download the full report.
For more information visit aidwatch.org.au.